"1. A system for aerial delivery of items to a destination location, comprising: a plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles, each of the plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles configured to aerially transport items; an unmanned aerial vehicle management system, including: a processor; and a memory coupled to the processor and storing program instructions that when executed by the processor cause the processors to at least: receive a request to deliver an item to a destination location; and send to an unmanned aerial vehicle of the plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles, delivery parameters identifying a source location that includes the item and a destination location; wherein the unmanned aerial vehicle, in response to receiving the delivery parameters, is further configured to at least: navigate to the source location; engage the item located at the source location; navigate a navigation route to the destination location; and disengage the item."

A further 19 claims relate to ways the drones in Amazon's fleet would be managed, networked, navigated, receive delivery locations from online purchases, complete deliveries, and more.

Patent in hand, Amazon now has a couple more mountains to climb, the BBC noted. Namely, the company must still perfect the technology behind its ambitious drone delivery service and also convince regulators to allow it and others to deploy robot aircraft in U.S. skies in more numbers and with more freedom than currently permitted.

In the latter case, Amazon has been lobbying hard to push the Federal Aviation Administration to change drone-related regulations. In March, just a week after the FAA gave the company permission to test out unmanned aircraft for delivery purposes, Amazon vice president of Global Public Policy Paul Misener visited Capitol Hill to chide the agency for taking too long to approve that testing and restricting the process too much.

With regards to the March 19 issuance of an experimental airworthiness certificate to Amazon Logistics, Misener said, "the permission the FAA granted is more restrictive than are the rules and approvals by which we conduct outdoor testing in the U.K. and elsewhere."

"Moreover, obtaining permission took far too long, and certainly much longer—over half a year—than it took in other countries," he added.

The 2012 FAA Air Transportation Modernization and Safety Improvement Act includes a mandate to loosen up drone restrictions and integrate commercial drones into the National Airspace System. But in 2013, a long-term planning report by the Transportation Department suggested more leeway for drone operators in the U.S. won't be officially instituted until this year at the earliest.

Amazon revealed the first results of PrimeAir testing in December 2013. At the time, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos said electrically powered PrimeAir drones were being designed to carry objects up to 5 pounds in weight, which covers up to 86 percent of the objects Amazon delivers.

"We're not going to deliver kayaks or table saws" with PrimeAir, he quipped.